The job market is hugely competitive, so in order to stand out from your competitors, you need a really great website.
Features that candidates expect you to have
When candidates are looking for a new job, your agency will not be the only one on their radar. It’s more than likely that they will be sending their CV to a number of agencies, as well as applying for multiple jobs as and when they see them. Therefore, you have to do everything you can to encourage the best candidates to include you in the application process. And that means adding certain functions to your website to enhance the candidate experience and prevent them
You must include features that enable candidates to not only find their dream job, but also apply for it. It’s something that candidates expect you to have and, if you don’t, are likely to go to a competitor’s site instead. These are the most common website add-ons we’re asked for by recruitment agencies:
- * Candidate Registration portal
- * Facility to upload CV and cover letter
- * Job search functionality and filtering
- * Job alerts function
- * Integration with third party job board aggregator software, CRM or ATS (applicant tracking systems), e.g. Broadbean, Bullhorn, Hubspot
- * A dynamic feed to load job ads onto Google Jobs
- If your current website doesn’t already have these functions, you need to add them quickly in order to stay ahead of the competition.
Features of a good recruitment agency website
A good recruitment agency website will include a number of key features that candidates may not be aware of, but are absolutely essential in order to give them a good experience and keep their details safe. We recommend every recruitment agency website needs to include:
Security
A huge amount of personal information will be transmitted through your website, which means security is an absolute necessity. At the very least, you need to ensure your website has an SSL certificate; it’s easy to work out if a company has one – you’ll see ‘https://’ before the website address in the address line of the toolbar. An SSL means candidates can be confident sending their information online and it gives your clients peace of mind. But it is also very important from an SEO point of view as sites that do not have an SSL are always placed lower in the search engine results. So if you want to be seen, be safe!
A good content management system (CMS)
Choosing the right platform is a big consideration when it comes to building your new website. Our preferred CMS is WordPress because it’s straightforward to use, enabling you to post jobs quickly and easily. Whenever we build a new website, we always include a training session to ensure users are comfortable using it to upload new content and edit existing content.
WordPress is also infinitely scalable. This means you can grow your website alongside your business, so you’ll never get to a certain point in your business growth and be forced to create a new site from scratch.
Optimisation
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is essential for the success of your website. You won’t see good SEO, but you’ll certainly see the results of having a properly optimised website in terms of search engine rankings. The higher your website’s rankings, the more likely it is that your target audience will find you and engage with your business, e.g. candidates will apply for jobs and businesses will contact you about their recruitment needs. Our SEO specialists will always optimise your new CWD website before it’s launched, and advise you of the keywords you’ll need to use in your content going forward.
User experience (UX)
The most important aspect of your website from your client and candidates’ point of view is that it’s user friendly. It must be easy to navigate, and candidates need to find the kinds of jobs they’re looking for easily and quickly. There are a number of elements that make a good UX when it comes to websites: a good search function so they find the jobs they want to apply for quickly and easily; fast page loading times; mobile responsiveness so candidates can look for their next job when it’s convenient for them; and an attractive layout to make the website look professional and attractive to potential clients and candidates.
In addition, to enhance the client’s user experience the website may also benefit from relevant:
- * Case studies
- * Testimonials
Contact information
A good website will always show all the different ways people can get in touch with your agency, and you must make them visible and easy to use. After all, if clients and candidates cannot find your contact details, how are they supposed to contact you? This means adding a link to your ‘Contact Us’ page on your main menu, but also posting your address with a Google Maps insert to make it easy for candidates to find you, as well as your main phone number on the bottom banner which appears on every page. You may also want to add an info@ email address to the banner, unless you’d prefer candidates to send their CVs to you via your online contact form.
If you are looking for a professional website for your recruitment agency, visit www.cariadwebdesign.com or call us on 01992 938215 to find out more.
